Thursday, April 26, 2012

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Today is the girl on left's birthday~ Fawna Moon, her sister on the right is Sara Rose, my daughter and half sister to Fawna. She turns 40 tomorrow~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARA & FAWNA!Fawna recent new mom is a loving and proud mother and wonderful wife. I watched her grow from small to tall and feel very close to her and her family.Sara the first in a long legacy of Willis children is turning 40 tomorrow. I celebrate with her although she is in Mexico and I in Sedona. As all mothers we never forget the day our children were born and where we were and how wonderful that first moment felt to hold our babies in our arms. We feed, clothe, play, teach and love them as best we can.I am so very proud of Sara. She has been my best friend her whole life and although we are not near we have never been too far apart. I admire her tenacity, positive outlook despite all types of adversity, her sense of beauty au naturale and her biggest and most beloved accomplishment, having and raising the 4 most beautiful children on the planet. Although she is a self made celebrity in Cabo San Lucas, she is also very well known in Oregon from her delicious and marvelous cooking/chefing adventures.I am so happy she is moving back to Eugene with her 3 small children so I will be able to see her and them more often. I have plans to cook and hang out with my oldest granddaughter Ellen, who is a freshman at the University there, to teach Tristan my art tricks, to gain wisdom and read stories from Ava who is 6, to cuddle Miranda and read her stories and just adore her with her 3 inch long eyelashes above her sweet face and take walks into the park with all.I remember bringing SAra home to my small house in Avondale, PA. She was wrapped in a knitted wool blue blanket. It was a gift from a woman that was a friend of her grandmother's who was from ENgland. It was the tiniest stitch and the sweetest little blanket. that blanket stayed with her until she was 5 and it was left at a bus station. I am reminiscing. All I want to do is be able to go get a coffee with SAra and sit and talk about her next plans for her business. The kids will be in a sand box playing happily and we can just be, neither of us needing to go anywhere or talk to anyone on the cell phone.. that is my wish for her and for myself. You see mothers remain selfish, even if it is their child's 40th. I wish happiness and love to surround you Sara. And Fawn holds her love dearly and deserves her sweet IRis..Both you girls are still as wonderful as you were in that photo.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Back to Gouache again. I am determined to figure out how best to use this medium. Its a challenge for sure as no other paint dries so quickly. I love the poster paint look it gives and rich opaque texture. I also realize I must attack or at least complete my taxes, there is no more running away from them. The aid from my accountant arrived on Saturday and I am still starring at the manila envelope on my desk unopened, knowing once opened I must work on them and really, who wants to work on their taxes, let alone pay them. I did make less this year so will owe less and with the move to Eugene will need more but it will all work out, it usually does. I will get Rita into college and a dorm safely and securely and then try not to worry about drunken parties and walking alone at night. All those things we don't want to think about but have to let go of the protection thing eventually. A film calledAn American OperaAmerica suffered its worst domestic animal crisis in history when tens of thousands of animals were left to perish in neighborhoods all across the gulf.

Follow the heartfelt story, magically crafted by Director Tom McPhee, of the pets, vets, owners, officials, rescuers and adopters of animals as they work through the chaos to do what is right only to discover not everyone is working toward the same goal!The lost pets of Hurricane KatrinaThe poster above is for a film that was made by Tom McPhee about the pets lost in hurricane Katrina.I started to watch an independent film last night on the PBS channel which I love, it was called"Mine" a film about how people during hurrican KAtrina dealt with the loss of their pets. Apparently the hotels and motels put up signs saying"no pets" and the sky dome where the biggest shelter of all was didn't allow pets so people left big bowls of dog food and left their dogs and cats behind. I saw about 2 minutes of dogs perched on the top of homes that were floating and another of an older black man talking about the pet left behind, I yelled outloud and Rita thought something happened to me. The grief overwhelmed me and I changed the channel as fast as possible. I cannot forget the look on one large poodle's face looking through the screen door of a floating house with water up to his knees. His face was so hopeful, like "I know you will come get me" . It don't think we realize how hard it must have been for those people, first to lose their homes and then pets. I know many lives were also lost and I don't want to make light of that but this film was all about the pets and for me it was more than I could bear. I am sure there were good moments but I couldn't make it past the sad ones to see them.This Site has a page of lost Katrina PEts. If you go there you will see many of the ones that were on the movie, including BAndit who belonged to the old african american man I spoke of. I cannot believe how many pets these people lost. GO and see it is stagering.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

LAtely I have been slacking off on my job. I came across a photo album that was filled with images that had to be drooled over and for me enhanced. This one just begged to be colored and kept. Her name was Grace and she was born in a town on the Main Line of Philadelphia called Bala Cynwyd. She grew up in a large tudor home with her sister Josephine and her parents. Her father was in the steel business and built bridges. Both parents were originally from Germany. She and sister Jo grew up and both married architects from Philadelphia who were both quite famous. A friend who is such a good sleuth at getting hidden info on historical people and homes sent invaluable information on these two sisters and for that I am so grateful. Some of the paintings that Grace did are easy to find if you google her name. She received her training at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under Hugh Breckenridge where she was twice awarded the coveted Cresson Traveling Scholarship. Keast was also the recipient of the Mary Smith Prize for best painting by a Philadelphia woman artist, and the Fellowship Prize for her still life, Gourds. she maintained a studio and taught painting. She was a painter of landscape, still life and figurative subjects. Her style was distinct, leaning slightly towards modernist while remaining realistic, evoking a mysterious and eerie quality within her work. Keast exhibited at the Salons of America, the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors, the Society of Independent Artists and the Corcoran Gallery Biennials. Born in Philadelphia in 1903, died in 1997. I hope to display more images from the album. Luckily many were duplicated so that I may keep a few for my own collection. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

I felt the need for the tropics today and this orchid from Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii does not disappoint! While on a vacation there I was lucky enough to stop for an afternoon to see the number one item on my todo list for my vacation and it was to tour the botanical garden in Hilo. This place goes right down to the ocean and is filled to overflowing with hundreds of species of orchids and succulents. The moisture and warmth made it a perfect spot to have this wonderful garden and I can almost remember how it felt to walk through there. Honestly for a photographer it was like a kid in a candy store.. or better! This lovely and somewhat uncomfortable flower is the most outstanding one in the garden in my eye. IT so has the surreal otherworldly look and almost defies beauty in its own spectacular way. Sadly I didn't shoot this at a high resolution so to blow it up would be impossible past a 5X7 but still I was happy to have the image. I worked it in photshop with a special overlay and voila... almost like a 1960s B movie setting for a film noir. Don't ask how I made that correlation it just seems to go.Click the link here to see it in my store.

Monday, January 25, 2010

click here to see this in my store- scanned from an 8.5"X11" original antique paper cut~ I called it "Feed the birds" as that is my favorite thing to do. Saw a beautiful red cardinal the other day. That was a real treat!

Did I mention that I have not been very good about blogging. I think it was so much rushing around during the holidays and then the new year and the pressure comes on us.. you know all the stuff. Lose weight, exercise(give me a break its about 30 degrees outside), get rid of all the extra junk in your house, make a resolution or two.Well yesterday I decided to cash in my wonderful gift of a massage and lo and behold what came up was that I had two things to accomplish in the immediate future. One was to slow down(duh), and the other was to take more time for myself. I could see this coming but didn't want to face it.Time goes by so quickly we must and I repeat must take time to stop and smell the roses, not just admire them but actually get our nose in there and inhale! I am guilty of trying to accomplish too many things and because of that my body was crying out.. stop and relax for Pete's sake.SO I did, a luxurious steam bath and an hour which went by too fast. I realize how hard it is for us to all take care of ourselves. Mom's are the guiltiest because we put our kids at the top, and that is fine. However we are not capable of giving more than we have unless we recharge and rejuvenate!Please take that time. Its all you really have. Make the best of it and enjoy!

Saturday, January 9, 2010

this is the latest watercolor my daughter Rita has made. She did it in one hour in her art class yesterday. In person it is almost life like. I cannot help but brag because although I have 2 degrees in art I don't believe I am anywhere near as visually accurate or intuitive about painting as she is at 17. I only hope she never loses her desire to paint. I worry as she played violin so beautifully for 8 years then quit playing although picked it up a few times in the past 5 years. I guess whatever brings joy to your heart is what you must do in life. This is a good lesson for parents in general when they are pushing things on their children they wish they had done or wish they would do. It really is up to the kids to find their joy. I think Rita's is unusual and regular animals. I love this manatee in all his flubber!enjoy your saturday!!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

My daughter Rita is creating an amazing alphabet of unusual animals. This is one of her latest and I think nicest images. A fossa. Every detail is shown in this pen and watercolor illustration and I wanted to showcase it because I really believe it deserves it. She had to take a semester off from art to concentrate on her AP Bio and other classes but starting this next week she will do a class with her wonderful Art teacher for her last semester in high school. A perfect way to end the 4 years by doing something you love to do. I am hoping she will continue with the alphabet until it is finished as each one is more amazing than the next one. Please visit her shop (one of two)on Etsy and see her other animal and biological drawings. Have a wonderful day!here is the link.her description of this wonderful animal is:This is a Fossa, the largest mammal predator on the island of Madagascar, even though they're not really that big (very large house cat sized). And although they look like they are of the cat family, they are actually very closely related to mongooses. That's an example of convergent evolution! Google it, its very cool!

Monday, December 28, 2009

click the image to see it larger in my Etsy storeI was so excited that last night I sold 2 original painted photos. One was a tintype of a little Queenie girl and the other was a painted cdv. What is truly amazing about this if anything was the evening before while watching the Suns basketball game I was painting the above tinype and wondering after a year of not having done anything like this, why was I taking the time when I was exhausted and should have been lying in bed. I believe now that putting forth the energy created the customer to come to my store. I am not sure this is possible but really the unverse does work in mysterious ways.I just put up a treasury herehttp://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=102475and decided to call it "Metal Tiger" as this is what the Chinese New Year will be. I looked up my astrological birthday reading and lo and behold, I was born in the year of the Metal Tiger, 1950. The horoscope says it is going to be a very good year for me and could even mean"too much of a good thing". Is that possible?

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Yeah!! we have snow here in Sedona. It started last night about 9pm and continued to give the dry earth a white blanket by morning! This is hopefully here for a few hours but here comes the sun. This is predictable as it is here almost every day of the year. But we did get our snow for however long it may last and I am going to get dressed and go out and frolic in it before it melts!!I have christmas swedish bread rising and the tree is all lit!I am wishing each and every one of you a very Merry christmas and happy hannukah or kwanza and a unversal happy new year!!lets remember mother earth for 2010. She needs us!

About Me

I am a mother of 2 wonderful girls, grandmother of 4, don't worry you will see photos of them one day!
I live in Sedona Arizona, a beautiful place, lots of sun and blue blue skies! I listen to politics and my favorite radio channel is Cinemix. I am the oldest of 11 , I love my kids, my parents and my siblings and my friends!!

Followers

Clancy's Classics Etsy Photos Click to go to my Store

LAura Slocum Etsy Friend w Ovarian Cancer click her photo to get more info on how to participate

Etsyprojectembrace -many Etsy artists are participating in a fund raiser for the cancer society.....20 percent of all of my card profits will go to American Cancer Foundation in Laura Slocum's name a wonderful fellow Etsy artist who is battling ovarian cancer. If you order 5 or more I will include free shipping as well. Thank you for your order! follow the link under this to go to my store. Here is Laura's letter in her own words"I believe that you must play the hand you’re dealt. Six weeks ago, I was diagnosed with stage 3 Ovarian Cancer. My mom died from the same. I am a huge believer in eating right, exercising, and getting regular checkups. I’ve done all those things, yet, I have cancer. WOW. That’s a life-changing situation, for sure. I just turned 46 …. (a very very young 46!) Strangely, I feel blessed. Most everyday of these 6 weeks, I’ve had a smile on my face. I’m going to play the hand I’ve been dealt in the best and most positive way I know how. I’m so fortunate my boys are older, they drive, they can do laundry and help around the house. There will always be some people in this world who have it better and some who have it worse. That’s just life. I’ve been an Etsy addict since around this time last year, when I started doing treasuries. My sister Jenn, of jennreese7 and my niece Kelly, of SweetnessJewelry, are also crazy about Etsy. The one thing I’ve learned in the past year is that Etsy has made it a point to have their competing sellers be friends through promoting each other in the treasuries. That sounds kind of funny, but, on the quest to have the “coveted” FP, we create treasuries, we comment on other treasuries, we “convo” people all over the world to congratulate them on their successes, and we make friends. Aren’t we supposed to be competing for sales?? Well, maybe some things are just more important than sales. From the moment I had a diagnosis, while still in the hospital, my Etsy friends were first on the scene – building treasuries just for me, wishing me well, offering advice, sending gifts, and a few have gone so far as to donate proceeds to the American Cancer Society in my honor!! Just to remind you………these are people ....I’VE NEVER MET! They have completely gone out of their way to be a friend or try to put a smile on my face. I now even talk to some of them on the phone! Now, I’m not talking 2 or 3 friends, I’m talking like 30 or 40! Some people just have checked my profile and offer words of encouragement! The first day that we learned about my chemo and all the ‘ins and outs’, the ‘goods and bads’, etc., my husband went online to search for support groups. He said to me that night, “I will never do that again, I was so depressed that I had to get off the computer” I said, in reply, “I don’t need support groups, I all need are my friends on Etsy”! They lift me up on a daily basis. It is Sunday. Tomorrow morning, I will leave my house at 7:30 am for my first round of chemo. I will have an IV drip for about 6 hours and be home around 5:00 pm. I will do that again on Tuesday, then again on Wednesday. then again on the following Monday. I look forward to 8 months of that chemo schedule, followed by another year of some form of maintenance chemo. There are 4 things I know for sure: 1. I am a Christian and I believe God has a plan for me. 2. I believe in myself to do the very best I can do and try to help others in the process by getting my story out there. 3. I have the most wonderful and supportive husband, family and friends. 4. Logging onto Etsy everyday and hearing from my friends will keep this smile on my face, not matter what I am going through." Please use the words etsyprojectembrace to search for listings that will take you to items which are tagged to reflect a donation to Cancer Foundation. and thank you!!!

My Ebay Store Link with more vintage photos

click photo to go there!

Darling Daisy

another often neglected flower DAISY! click to see larger in my store..wonderful details in background

I have been featured on Etsy Stalker~

click the image to go see my graduation card featured! Thanks to Beatrice and Violet!

Subscribe To Clancy's Classics

Sara Goes to a PArty

This is a photo taken by my sister Sharon of my oldest daughter Sara when she was about 5 years old. I remember she was going to a birthday party of her friend Garen who lived in the neighborhood. This is an excellent photo that Sharon took and the design elements are what strike me the minute I see this. Plaid pants, wool sweater with little hearts and a bow tie shirt that I know Sara found at our local goodwill, a place back in the 70s where you really could find the coolest vintage clothes for under a dollar. I have to say that both of my girls Sara and Rita both have always insisted on dressing themselves and often in clothing as children that most mothers would have been slightly afraid to let others see them in. Sara always insisted on her own style and still does... Rita often wore checked skirts and polka dot shirts to school in junior high with knee high socks and ugg boots... still does sometimes. As they both got older the clothing softened out a bit but to look at this photo really reminds me that really we are all entitled to our own style be it clothing, decorating the house or colors we make our hair! I will always look at this photo and think.."personal style" and that is what I love so much about it.. and also of course the fact that this was when I first got a camera and although I didn't take this photo I never ever stopped pestering Sara to wear this and pose that and stand here and her voice echos in my ear even today, "this is the last shot mom, no more!" Thanks Sara for being an ever-patient model for both myself and your auntie Sharon-- now you have some great "shots" to show your own 4 children!

Circus Boy & Midget Aunt

Here is a photo that came in an album of a midwestern family that spent most of the year traveling in a family circus, complete with elephants and horses and each member of the family had a different role to play. The mother was probably the fat lady and had 6 children, all who wore costumes and had a part to play in the circus. This photo is of her son and his aunt..the mom's sister. I know this by the fact that she looks so much like the mom except smaller. This family also had a farm which there are many photos in the album of chickens, pigs and dogs riding on the back of horses, even while at home.. off the job... can you imagine the life... the kids probably were home schooled if at all. They all seemed very happy and all I know is that the last name is Brown. This image is just one of many that I love from that album.

The Painter in His Studio Nancy France

Every so often there will be that image that just does it for me.This is one of those. There isn't anything I can say that will explain how much I love this image. The light seems to come in from an open window as only it could in 1906. this man is an artist who lives in a colony of artists in Nancy, France in 1906. He may or may not be part of a troupe who works year round on theater there for summer performances, not unlike our Shakespearian productions in Oregon. I was very fortunate to acquire a set of images from this town and each image bears it's own story and light! I really wish I knew who the photographer was but for me to find this out would be a trip to France with a pocket dictionary as my French is rusty since college. I also love this image as I am very interested in details. The painter's canvases are set up behind him with different half finished paintings on them. His desk has linseed oil and several implements as well as a cake of wax which isfor maybe mixing with the paints. HIs long wool peacoat hangs up high out of the way which makes me think its a small room where eveything is in it's place. He wears his suit for this semi formal portrait, his smock out of frame somewhere. I have added a link to my store so by clicking on his photo you will be able to access a larger version to see the details better. Once on the image in my Etsy store, there is a magnifier under the image, click on that for an even larger image. I will try to scan more of these images in as weeks go by. The story is fascinating!

American Goldfinch Pen and Ink watercolor by Rita

Here is the latest of many pen and ink drawings by my daughter Rita who is 16 yrs old. After doing acrylics for years, her art teacher at school introduced her to pen and ink and she has never looked back. This art-form has become her favorite and this recent piece is just wonderful. She picked up a huge vintage music book at a local estate sale a few weeks ago and decided to paint this directly over the music. I just noticed that the song April showers is the last song on the page.. her birth month and also mention of a bluebird which is tweet too! Please click on the image to link to her Etsy store.

Oh Rats! Fulton and Bobby w Pet Rats

Bobby & Fulton Freeman with their pet rats. You will see more from this wonderful family as I have a giant photo alum with a complete diary written by mother Freeman about her 5 children growing up in Southern California, all went to a Montessori school and learned to do everything for themselves.. I love this family and as I get their photos up you will love them too! The date is 1924. love that hat Bobby!

Ginger Dog

Isn't she a good dog sitting there.. one of my favorite glass negative images I created.. Ginger is in a Halloween treasury on Etsy thanks to WALRUSTUSK!.. click on her photo and see